1. Field of the Invention
Float plated fabrics are patterned in adjoining areas of the fabric alternatively by floats from one of at least two yarns from which the courses are composed.
2. Description of Prior Art
To obtain a circular single jersey fabric with a woven-like appearance it is necessary to arrange yarn floats on the reverse side of the fabric (technical back). Such fabric structures are created widely by knitting lay-in yarns into a plain jersey ground fabric. By an individual arrangement of the tuck stitches of the lay-in yarn the surface of the fabric is structured according to a pattern. Lay-in yarns will restrict the elasticity of the fabric, so that this fabric, as well as woven fabrics, for special applications, in which stretchable fabrics are required (for example highly molded parts in the transportation industry), are of inadequate suitability.
Another disadvantage of lay-in fabrics is, that in case of a stress to the surface of the fabric, especially by abrasion, instead of the lay-in yarn the meshing ground yarn is destroyed, so that the fabric becomes useless. Furthermore under the conditions of lay-in constructions the patterning is widely limited to plain-color structures.
A qualitative improvement is performed by individual controlled float plating. This technique is well known, for example as "mesh", in which a course is composed from a ground yarn knitted in all stitches and a plating yarn knitted in predetermined stitches with floats in between.
With this method fabrics with sufficient flexibility are realized and if the surface is stressed by abrasion at first the floats of the plating yarn are destroyed and then the ground fabric. Comparable to lay-in fabrics the patterning of this fabric is limited by the same restrictions.
To increase the patterning possibilities and the density of the floats it is practiced recently to compose a course from one ground and two plating yarns.
According to a previous proposal, as disclosed in German Patent 664 661, in each feeder, at first, two plating yarns are fed alternately to predetermined needles and subsequently the ground yarn is fed to all needles. The disadvantage of this method is that, notwithstanding an extraordinary exact adjustment of the yarn carriers, a great number of faults occur. The required arrangement of the plating yarns alternatingly in the hooks and behind them on adjacent needles leads to an uncontrollable tensioning of the yarns, especially when the needle selection is continuously changed. For this reason, this proposal, as well as variations based thereon, for example, as disclosed in German Patent 671333, were not realized to a great extent.
According to another proposal described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,406,538 directed to the manufacturing of three thread fleece, the above described disadvantages are avoided by a succeeding feeding and kinking of the yarns one after the other prior to the stitch forming action. This method was also modified for manufacturing of float plated fabric, whereby two float plating yarns are subsequently kinked from alternative needles on the medium ledge of the sinkers, succeeded from kinking a face yarn (ground yarn) by all needles to a complete float plated course by the stitch forming action.
Based on this procedure the method for manufacturing a patterned plush fabric as referred in the proposal DE-A-31 45 307 was developed. It is also noted therein that plated portions are obtained by an advanced retracting of the sinkers (DE-A-31 45 307, column 7, lines 12 to 25; respectively corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,784 column 5, lines 54 to 66). It becomes apparent that by the advanced retraction of the sinkers the previously kinked yarn loops are not controlled thereafter, so that a deformation or a destroying of the uncontrolled loops will occur.
This will be improved by the proposal referred in the DE-A-39 27 815 in which based on a method according to the previously mentioned DE-A-31 45 307 an additional ground yarn is meshed into the ground fabric in a float plating relationship (illustrated in FIG. 1 to 5) or knitted alternatively one to the other (see column 10, lines 18 to 22 and claim 2). As illustrated and described with reference to FIG. 8 the yarns for the ground fabric are kinked in succeeding sections on the upper ledge of the ground sinker, or both yarns are fed to alternative needles and kinked in the same section according to the embodiment of FIG. 9. When kinking at least a second ground yarn subsequent to the first ground yarn as required for the float plated relationship, also the plush sinkers, controlling the previous loop structure of the first yarn, must be retracted prior to the looping (kinking) of the second ground or plating yarn, so that the control of the loops from the first ground yarn is interrupted and the loop structure can be affected.
Another variation for manufacturing float plated fabrics is produced by a modification of the proposal as described in the EP-A-0,295,703 and referred to in Wirkerei-Strickerei-Technik No. 10/1994 pages 824-830 or Melliand Textilberichte No. 1/1994, pages 34-38. In this process the ground yarn is not kinked prior to the stitch forming action so that the kinking of the plating (pile) yarns over a looping ledge of the sinkers and the control of the loop structure up to the stitch forming action are not affected.
As obvious from the mentioned documents the plating yarns are always kinked alternatively one to the other, so that for the plated structure additional ground yarns, knitting the plain ground fabric courses are required which will increase the material costs and impedes the construction of light-weight fabrics.